


Anniversary

by LeisurelyPanda



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Closure, Grieving Dadsona, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Moving On, Supportive Damien Bloodmarch, graveyard, picnic date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 11:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11758722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeisurelyPanda/pseuds/LeisurelyPanda
Summary: The anniversary of Alex's death comes and Jonathan takes Damien to meet the man he had loved many years ago.





	Anniversary

Jonathan Fisher walked through the cemetery hand-in-hand with Damien with his heart in his throat. Logically, he knew that there was nothing to be scared of. It was the anniversary, though, and he was feeling a bit emotional. It wasn’t as though this cemetery was any different from the others they sometimes walked through on their dates. The only difference now was that it was in the daytime. And that this wasn’t a date, per se. And this time, it was Damien with him instead of his usual company, though if it had to be anyone, Jonathan would have wanted it to be Damien. 

They reached the destination, a solitary tombstone. Most tombstones were placed with family. Spouses, parents, children, siblings. Not this one. This one was alone, like the family that bought this section of the cemetery still only had one person in it that had died. Jonathan approached the tombstone, the flowers from that past Christmas had been cleaned away. He never brought the fake flowers that you shoved in styrofoam molds. He always brought real ones. He knelt before the tombstone labelled “Alex Fisher”. 

“Hi Alex,” he whispered. 9 years now and it still wasn’t any easier. “Been a while.”

He took a steadying breath. It was never easy. “A lot has changed, Alex. We moved to the other side of town. You remember how you always talked about never wanting a house too big for your needs? Well, we downsized. It’s a cozy little house, you’d like it. The neighbors are amazing. You remember Craig from college? He’s our neighbor now. I’ve been going on runs with him. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either, but the dude got ripped. He has three daughters now, I guess that changed him. A lot.

“Amanda isn’t here today. She’s in college. But she sends her love. She’s studying photography. The school has a really amazing program. You should have seen her face when she read the acceptance letter. She always had your love of the arts. She inherited your rebellious streak too. She runs around town spray painting stop signs and setting fire to dumpsters. You know, normal teenage stuff. Well, she used to. Now she’s in college, maybe doing less of that. You’d be so proud of her. 

“She misses you. We found some old pictures when we were moving. She keeps the picture of you holding her as a baby, the one that says ‘I love you, Amanda!’ at the bottom, in her wallet. She wears your jacket everywhere now, too. She added some pins and stuff to it. It makes her feel close to you, I think.”

He felt the tears stream down his face and he placed a hand over his eyes and tried to wipe the tears away. “I miss you, too, Alex. I miss you more than you’ll ever know.” He sobbed into his hands. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked through bleary eyes at Damien, who had knelt down on the grass beside him. He didn’t say anything. He knew. He understood. There was no need for apology or explanation. He held up the bouquet they had prepared for the occasion. Knowing Damien, he’d probably guessed the reason for this particular flower. They were forget-me-nots. Coincidentally, they were also Alex’s favorite flowers. 

Jonathan solemnly put the flowers in the brass vase over the tombstone. No matter how many years it had been, he was always emotional for a week or two this time of year. Amanda was too. It was one of the things that they usually bonded over every year, but now she was away. He was grateful, though, to have Damien with him today.

“Alex, this is Damien. He’s one of the neighbors. And he’s my… boyfriend. You’d like him. He dresses in Victorian style Goth clothing and lives in this big, Victorian styled house. It’s beautiful. The flowers this year are from his own garden, which is full of so many different kinds of flowers it’s honestly mind blowing. He also volunteers at an animal shelter and he works in IT. He has a son, too. Lucien. He’s a bit more modern Goth, but he’s a good kid.” He’s rambling, he knows, but he can’t stop. He tells Alex about the other neighbors. About his perpetual and perhaps somewhat irrational rivalry with Brian. About Joseph and Mary and their strange (creepy) children. About Mat and his coffee shop and all the music puns he gave his drinks and recipes. About Hugo and the trivia nights he and Damien competed in over cheese boards. About Robert, the local cryptid hunter. He told him about the picture Amanda gave him at her graduation party of the two of them, that he keeps a copy of it at his work office, that he worries about her every day, but knows that she’s doing just fine.

When he was done, he stood back and Damien took out the picnic blanket and placed the basket down. He produced a bottle of wine and two glasses and noticed a bottle of beer from a local brewery. “Who’s the beer for?” he asked, laying a hand on Jonathan’s when he didn’t answer.

Jonathan shook out of his reverie and squeezed the hand in appreciation. “It’s for Alex,” he said. “He was always a fan of good beer. Never really cared much for wine, though.”

Damien nodded in understanding, and poured two glasses and handed one to his lover. He raised his glass in a toast. “To Alex.”

Jonathan smiled, his eyes still a little teary. “To Alex.” He took a long, fortifying drink. It was a good vintage.

Damien sipped his wine. “Alex was your husband?” he asked.

Jonathan thought for a moment. He’d talked a bit about Alex with Damien, but never in much detail. “No, not technically,” he said. “He took my last name and we always talked about getting married as soon as it was legal, but he died before it was legalized in this state.”

“This isn’t your family’s section, then?” Damien asked.

“It’s ours. I bought it with the life insurance money as part of his company’s health insurance plan. My extended family lives in Florida, but I wanted to be able to visit him more than just at Christmas,” he said. “His family… disowned him when he came out. Hence the reason he took my name. So it’s our section.”

“My condolences,” Damien said.

The rest of the picnic was spent on more pleasant topics. Jonathan told Damien about how he and Alex met in college, how one of their friends volunteered to be the surrogate for Amanda. He told him about Alex’s artistic pursuits and how he always complained that he had to work for a living so he could afford to be artistic. He told him about how much joy they had together, their adventures, how he had helped Alex come out to his family and the fallout afterwards. When Amanda entered their lives and the shenanigans Alex and she would get up to when left alone for more than five minutes. How Alex started focusing more on photography when she was born and filled albums with pictures of their little family. Damien listened intently, occasionally asking questions. 

Eventually the sun began to set. Damien packed up the remains of their picnic. Jonathan took the bottle of beer and opened it, pouring it over the grave where his partner was buried. Damien reached into a sleeve and produced a single red tea rose and placed in the center of the bouquet on the grave. 

“It was good to meet you, Alex,” he said. “I wish I had had the pleasure of making your acquaintance in this life. I shall instead look forward to meeting you in the next.” 

Jonathan took Damien’s hand and looked into his eyes. “Thank you,” he said. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

Damien lifted his hand and kissed it. “For you, my love, anything.”

Jonathan closed the distance and pressed a gentle kiss to Damien’s lips. “I love you, Damien.”

Damien blushed slightly. “I love you, too,” he replied. They walked back home, hand in hand. 

He wouldn’t say that he’d have it any other way. He had loved Alex too much to want that. He would have much preferred that Alex never died, that Amanda could have grown up with two fathers instead of one. But he was grateful for the way things had turned out in the past year. As they left the cemetery, he couldn’t help but feel as though Alex approved. It made him smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr for various geek related nonsense. https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


End file.
